Monday, September 28, 2015

Yale Bulldogs (1979-82)

Yale uniforms, of course, have changed glacially over the years, so us uniform observers tend to get excited at the most mundane changes from teams such as the Bulldogs. By 1980, Yale was phasing out the striped socks and they were gone altogether by '81. If there were message boards in the early '80s, there no doubt would have been posts such as: "OMG!! Yale got rid of striped sox! WTF Were they thinking?!?"

Yale in action against UConn in 1980.Note that No. 5 has white socks and No. 48 has striped socks.This would prompt an Internet flamewar today.

Black shoes were also phased out during this period; the above graphics show black shoes for '79 and white shoes for '80, but both colors were worn during those seasons.

Yale's best player in this year was a guy named Diana -- Rich Diana, who's still sixth on the Bulldogs' all-time rushing list despite playing only three years. He ran for 1,442 yards and 14 touchdowns in 1981; both numbers were well over half his career total.

When I first saw this picture, I naturally thought it was a referenceto Charles and Diana's royal wedding, which happened in '81.Nope, just some fans cheering on a Yale star in a game consideredworthy enough to be on ABC. Can you imagine an Ivy League teamon ABC these days?